Jury hears final arguments in murder trial

Published: Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at 7:59 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at 7:59 p.m.

Prosecutors told members of the jury Wednesday that evidence they have seen and testimony they have heard in the week-and-a-half long murder trial of Jermaine Deprie Glover are "pieces to a puzzle."

The defense attorney argued the "puzzle" is missing too many pieces.

The jury began deliberating at 3 p.m. Wednesday and will continue Thursday morning.

Each day, family members and friends of Misty Lynn Carter, whose body was found on the Blue Ridge Parkway Oct. 19, 2009, and of Glover, charged with her murder, have entered Henderson County Superior Court and filled the front rows of the courtroom.

Carter's father has clutched a cross on a necklace in the palm of his left hand every day, it's black cord wound tightly around the pads between his knuckles.

Glover, 39, has been held in the Henderson County jail since he was charged in August 2010 with killing Carter, his roommate and girlfriend. Carter, 21, was five to six weeks pregnant when she was killed by a chop wound to the head and her body set on fire.

The "question of who killed Misty Carter" still lingers today, defense attorney Greg Newman said in his closing argument Wednesday morning. He said police are not sure where the murder happened, much less where the weapon is hidden.

"Worse than not knowing who killed somebody is convicting somebody who did not do it," he told the jury.

But assistant district attorney Doug Mundy argued that evidence in the case points to Glover.

"All the answers aren't going to be there," he told the jury in his closing argument. "There's going to be some loose ends. What matters is the law."

Mundy delivered his closing arguments first, emphasizing that matches found near Carter's body were similar to matches found in the house Glover shared with Carter, in Carter's car and in Glover's jeans.

He reminded them that Jerry Knaus identified Glover as the driver of a truck Knaus almost ran into on his way up the parkway before Knaus found Carter's body at 6:32 a.m.

Mundy said Carter's car was found at a truck stop about a mile from Glover's home with a stain of her blood on the front passenger seat.

Another piece of the puzzle, Mundy said, is the bag of trash Glover tossed into a dumpster at a gas station not long after Carter's body was found, a bag that contained four burnt matchsticks.

A forensic expert testified that a cloth tie found on the kitchen floor of the couple's home in Hendersonville was made of the same material as a tie used to secure a wrapping around Carter's head before her body was set on fire, Mundy added.

The blood-stained sofa with the missing cushion is another piece, he argued, adding that there were no leashes or food bowls to be found for the "mysterious dog that was just there for a few weeks" and was blamed by Glover for the missing cushion.

Glover testified that Carter would often shave on the couch and cut herself in the process. Mundy said detectives found her razor in the bathroom.

Special Agent J. McClelland with the State Bureau of Investigation testified that the blood was in the form of "symmetrical" droplets, Newman said during his closing argument. Their symmetry means they had to fall straight down, not at an angle as one might see in a splatter, he said.

Newman also said that 15 to 20 officers searched Glover's doublewide on Oct. 20, 2009 and barely even noticed the couch.

"They were looking for a large amount of blood because Dr. (Donald) Jason (a forensic pathologist) said that's what you would have" in this type of crime, Newman said. No bloody clothes were found in the house and there were no signs of a body having been dragged inside or out, he added.

Glover testified that he stayed home the night of Oct. 18, 2009 and watched television. A neighbor told detectives that he saw the glow of a TV from a window at Glover's home around midnight and that his car was parked outside between 6 and 6:30 a.m. the following morning.

Newman argued that his client, who has no record of violent crime, has never wavered in his statements to detectives in four interviews.

"Not one time was he impeached about changing his story," he said.

In the first interview with investigators on Oct. 20, 2009, Newman said Glover offered a DNA sample. In his last interview on July 13, 2010, he submitted his phone for testing.

After five days of presenting evidence — 429 pieces of evidence, he said — the state did not want to talk about the text messages Carter allegedly sent to her sister about meeting with a client before she died.

"These are the critical pieces of evidence in determining what happened," Newman told the jury.

The telephone that sent these messages was never found, he said, adding that the state showed no phone records or call history of the deceased or the accused.

The texts sent from Carter's phone to Crystal Branson before midnight Oct. 18, 2009 said Carter was in a parking lot waiting on a "new client" who was paying her for her time. Newman said the text from Carter's phone also mentioned a man named Steve, whom her sister identified as Steve Green. He said Green, who hooked her up with clients for her personal massage business, was interviewed only once by police.

Branson doubted the text messages came from her sister.

"It is significant that (Carter's) body was found completely unclothed because in her text message she said that she was with a client," he told the jury. For certain amounts of money, he said, Carter would "give massages in various states of undress" or "completely nude" and "perform sexual acts."

A condom wrapper was found in the general search perimeter of the body, but Newman said it was never sent to the lab for testing.

He argued that Knaus never mentioned seeing anyone on the road until a year after he found Carter's body, even when he was hounded by detectives as a possible suspect.

Newman reminded the jury that Glover said Carter used matches to light her cigarettes and that the state would like them to believe she used a lighter, but no lighter was found.

Newman also said "no conclusions could be made to the common origin" of the matches collected from the parkway, Carter's car and Glover's home. Black plastic material found in the laundry room of Glover's home did not match the material found around Carter's head, he said.

The semen found in her body belonged to the father of her unborn child, Newman added.

"The pieces missing here are reasonable doubt," he argued.

"Just because you don't see every single piece doesn't mean you can't see the big picture," countered Doug Pearson, assistant district attorney. "Absence of evidence does not mean absence of a crime."

<p>Prosecutors told members of the jury Wednesday that evidence they have seen and testimony they have heard in the week-and-a-half long murder trial of Jermaine Deprie Glover are "pieces to a puzzle."</p><p>The defense attorney argued the "puzzle" is missing too many pieces.</p><p>The jury began deliberating at 3 p.m. Wednesday and will continue Thursday morning. </p><p>Each day, family members and friends of Misty Lynn Carter, whose body was found on the Blue Ridge Parkway Oct. 19, 2009, and of Glover, charged with her murder, have entered Henderson County Superior Court and filled the front rows of the courtroom. </p><p>Carter's father has clutched a cross on a necklace in the palm of his left hand every day, it's black cord wound tightly around the pads between his knuckles. </p><p>Glover, 39, has been held in the Henderson County jail since he was charged in August 2010 with killing Carter, his roommate and girlfriend. Carter, 21, was five to six weeks pregnant when she was killed by a chop wound to the head and her body set on fire. </p><p>The "question of who killed Misty Carter" still lingers today, defense attorney Greg Newman said in his closing argument Wednesday morning. He said police are not sure where the murder happened, much less where the weapon is hidden. </p><p>"Worse than not knowing who killed somebody is convicting somebody who did not do it," he told the jury.</p><p>But assistant district attorney Doug Mundy argued that evidence in the case points to Glover.</p><p>"All the answers aren't going to be there," he told the jury in his closing argument. "There's going to be some loose ends. What matters is the law."</p><p>Mundy delivered his closing arguments first, emphasizing that matches found near Carter's body were similar to matches found in the house Glover shared with Carter, in Carter's car and in Glover's jeans. </p><p>He reminded them that Jerry Knaus identified Glover as the driver of a truck Knaus almost ran into on his way up the parkway before Knaus found Carter's body at 6:32 a.m. </p><p>Mundy said Carter's car was found at a truck stop about a mile from Glover's home with a stain of her blood on the front passenger seat. </p><p>Another piece of the puzzle, Mundy said, is the bag of trash Glover tossed into a dumpster at a gas station not long after Carter's body was found, a bag that contained four burnt matchsticks. </p><p>A forensic expert testified that a cloth tie found on the kitchen floor of the couple's home in Hendersonville was made of the same material as a tie used to secure a wrapping around Carter's head before her body was set on fire, Mundy added.</p><p>The blood-stained sofa with the missing cushion is another piece, he argued, adding that there were no leashes or food bowls to be found for the "mysterious dog that was just there for a few weeks" and was blamed by Glover for the missing cushion. </p><p>Glover testified that Carter would often shave on the couch and cut herself in the process. Mundy said detectives found her razor in the bathroom.</p><p>Special Agent J. McClelland with the State Bureau of Investigation testified that the blood was in the form of "symmetrical" droplets, Newman said during his closing argument. Their symmetry means they had to fall straight down, not at an angle as one might see in a splatter, he said.</p><p>Newman also said that 15 to 20 officers searched Glover's doublewide on Oct. 20, 2009 and barely even noticed the couch.</p><p>"They were looking for a large amount of blood because Dr. (Donald) Jason (a forensic pathologist) said that's what you would have" in this type of crime, Newman said. No bloody clothes were found in the house and there were no signs of a body having been dragged inside or out, he added.</p><p>Glover testified that he stayed home the night of Oct. 18, 2009 and watched television. A neighbor told detectives that he saw the glow of a TV from a window at Glover's home around midnight and that his car was parked outside between 6 and 6:30 a.m. the following morning.</p><p>Newman argued that his client, who has no record of violent crime, has never wavered in his statements to detectives in four interviews.</p><p>"Not one time was he impeached about changing his story," he said. </p><p>In the first interview with investigators on Oct. 20, 2009, Newman said Glover offered a DNA sample. In his last interview on July 13, 2010, he submitted his phone for testing.</p><p>After five days of presenting evidence — 429 pieces of evidence, he said — the state did not want to talk about the text messages Carter allegedly sent to her sister about meeting with a client before she died.</p><p>"These are the critical pieces of evidence in determining what happened," Newman told the jury.</p><p>The telephone that sent these messages was never found, he said, adding that the state showed no phone records or call history of the deceased or the accused.</p><p>The texts sent from Carter's phone to Crystal Branson before midnight Oct. 18, 2009 said Carter was in a parking lot waiting on a "new client" who was paying her for her time. Newman said the text from Carter's phone also mentioned a man named Steve, whom her sister identified as Steve Green. He said Green, who hooked her up with clients for her personal massage business, was interviewed only once by police. </p><p>Branson doubted the text messages came from her sister.</p><p>"It is significant that (Carter's) body was found completely unclothed because in her text message she said that she was with a client," he told the jury. For certain amounts of money, he said, Carter would "give massages in various states of undress" or "completely nude" and "perform sexual acts."</p><p>A condom wrapper was found in the general search perimeter of the body, but Newman said it was never sent to the lab for testing.</p><p>He argued that Knaus never mentioned seeing anyone on the road until a year after he found Carter's body, even when he was hounded by detectives as a possible suspect.</p><p>Newman reminded the jury that Glover said Carter used matches to light her cigarettes and that the state would like them to believe she used a lighter, but no lighter was found. </p><p>Newman also said "no conclusions could be made to the common origin" of the matches collected from the parkway, Carter's car and Glover's home. Black plastic material found in the laundry room of Glover's home did not match the material found around Carter's head, he said.</p><p>The semen found in her body belonged to the father of her unborn child, Newman added.</p><p>"The pieces missing here are reasonable doubt," he argued.</p><p>"Just because you don't see every single piece doesn't mean you can't see the big picture," countered Doug Pearson, assistant district attorney. "Absence of evidence does not mean absence of a crime."</p><p>Reach Weaver at emily.weaver@blueridgenow.com or 828-694-7867.</p>